


Explorers

by forgetcanon



Series: old world blues and new world hope [1]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, OC Kiss Week, hooking up in a bar is an excellent way for these two smely mailmen to meet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 06:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7880455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetcanon/pseuds/forgetcanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Lautner and Clark," she said, smiling. "Like those explorers, you know? Way back, back before the bombs."</p><p>Clark laughed, the laugh of someone who didn't know what the hell you were on about. "What? Really?"</p><p>For the OC Kiss Week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Explorers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [felixfelicitas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/felixfelicitas/gifts).



Lautner was free of her package and of the burden of counting caps, there was someone asleep in the room above the Express who'd probably holler if someone tried to go through her things, and the evening was just beginning.

So she crossed the street from the Express station and pulled herself onto the last remaining barstool.

When Lautner caught his eye, the bartender nodded and reached for the cheap whiskey. She'd been here often enough. She had a bit of a reputation in this town, after the mess with that caravan boss's niece, where he stormed in to start something and Lautner broke a chair on him.

That right there was the reason she stuck to the outskirts of NCR territory: a man holds a gun in her face, and she very nearly gets hauled away by the the militia for defending herself? At least on the outskirts the price of holding and transporting a lone prisoner outweighed the fee the NCR paid out to militias for sending their ne'er-do-wells to their fancy prisons. Didn't hurt that Duke and a few of the other regulars stood up for her.

'She's a rascal, but she's no criminal,' had been the consensus. Gotta love a reputation like that.

"My man," she crooned, as Duke slid a double in front of her. "Start a tab for me? You know where I'm staying."

"Sure thing. As long as you don't make me drag you there at closing." He winked.

"No promises." Lautner smiled around a mouthful of lukewarm whiskey. The burn would fade as the evening went on.

And the evening _did_ go on. Drinking alone turned into a game of darts with the regulars, turned into a story about a bear-trap and a gecko out east, turned into two more glasses of whiskey and another courier from the station at her elbow swapping stories. Clark? She was pretty sure it was Clark. It sounded familiar enough.

She hoped he had a private room, but she _knew_ he didn't. He didn't seem like the type for planning ahead that far, even if he certainly looked forward to where this was heading. And there was no _way_ she'd be able to get away with fooling around with another courier above the station.

Hell, if all else failed, she'd just gotten paid and she knew a place with cheap rooms, she could shell out for a bit of fun.

"Lautner and Clark," she said, smiling. "Like those explorers, you know? _Way_ back, back before the bombs."

Clark laughed, the laugh of someone who didn't know what the _hell_ you were on about. "What? Really?"

"Yeah! Well, Lewis, but, close enough?"

"What'd they do?"

Lautner shrugged. Her mother had taught her to read on that picture book, the cardboard pages so worn already that she'd had to write the words over where they'd peeled away, empty pen digging in deep. _L is for Lewis and Clark, L is for Lucille Lautner_. "Explored. They discovered the west."

"West was already here, when I got here." Clark leaned in, brown eyes shining conspiratorially. "But you know what? I can think of something _else_ we can explore."

Lautner snickered, leaned in. He tasted like the same cheap whiskey she'd been drinking, like the cigarette he'd offered to share with her, like he needed to brush his teeth. It was nice to be on the same page as someone.

Duke banged his baseball bat on the counter in front of them. "Alright, Lautner, take your young buck _home_."

They parted fuzzily. Clark's hand stayed on her thigh as his other hand patted himself down for his purse. "Please," he said. "Please, tell me you have your own room."

Lautner reached for her caps. "I know a place. C'mon, Clark, let's have ourselves a little adventure."

**Author's Note:**

> So I bet Lautner's old picture book was some kinda "A is for AMERICA, B is for BOSTON TEA PARTY" book. I'm also like 90% certain it already exists, because how could it _not_?
> 
> Duke is definitely my favorite OC who's said less than twenty words. 
> 
> Also posted on [tumblr](http://babedur.tumblr.com/post/149532315481/oc-kiss-week-clark-x-lautner) and [imzy](https://www.imzy.com/forgetcanonblog/post/oc_kiss_week_lautner_x_clark).


End file.
